This invention relates to apparatus for the gathering or collecting of potatoes or other root vegetables, such as turnips, carrots and the like.
The prior art has provided various types of potato digging machines, which machines dig one or more rows of potatoes, leaving the bulk of the potatoes lying on or close to the surface of the earth. The potatoes were then harvested by any suitable means. Years ago such potatoes were commonly harvested by hand but in more recent years machines have been developed for harvesting the potatoes.
In the course of harvesting potatoes, it has been common practice to use a machine called a "one-over" which is attached to a secondary tractor that precedes the harvester during use. The function of this "one-over" machine is to pick up two rows of the product (e.g. potatoes) and to place the product into the path of the harvester.
A major disadvantage of the conventional "one-over" apparatus is that it requires a secondary tractor to pull it, thus requiring an extra tractor and an extra man to operate it.